Indeed they are. The circuit is a frequency divider.The "tubes" are probably neon lamps used as perhaps a sawtooth oscillator.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearson–Anson_effect
Bri
They don't need to be tuned, since they follow the ùaster oscillator. Each section is a divide by two. The master oscillator delivers the top octave and the dividers deliver the octaves below.Looking again at the pic showing apparently neon bulbs, I count 12 very similar sections. Top octave generator? But how is it tuned....lol
Bri